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Google Settles FTC Privacy Allegations Over Buzz

Google has reportedly settled with the US Federal Trade Commission over the agency's allegations of “deceptive privacy practices” in the search giant's launch of its social communications tool Buzz.  Launched last February, Buzz has been hindered by privacy issues since the beginning, and the tool has had little success, despite being included with Google's popular Gmail service.

The FTC has claimed that Google failed to inform users of privacy issues surrounding Buzz when the product launched, a violation of FTC regulations.  Specifically, the agency says Google failed to inform users that they could choose to decline to join the network or leave it after they've signed up.  For users who did join, meanwhile, the FTC says the controls for limiting the sharing of their personal info were confusing and difficult to locate.

The complaint further claims that those who chose to join the Buzz network were not properly informed that the identities of people they email frequently would be made public by default within the network.  Google also allegedly offered a “Turn Off Buzz” option that did not completely remove users from the network.  The Mountain View, California-based company has reportedly received thousands of complaints from users concerned about the public disclosure of their email contacts.

The FTC's chairman, Jon Leibowitz, issued the following statement after the settlement was reached:  “This is a tough settlement that ensures that Google will honor its commitments to consumers and build strong privacy protections into all of its operations.”  The settlement will require Google to implementa comprehensive privacy program and calls for regular, independent privacy audits to be conducted by independent third parties over the next twenty years.  It also requires Google to obtain users' consent in the future before sharing data with third parties.